To be or not to be? Ask Google!
27/05/2007 Written by Alberto Redi (halfmoon)
Google’s plans to increase the customization of its information services could turn out to be a double-edged weapon, privacy campaigners warned.
Actually last declarations by Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt revealed that the main ambition of the company is to collect a number of data about users which ‘d be enough to allow the search engine to provide really effective and completely personalized answer to the thousands of queries managed every day by Google. According to Mr. Schmidt, the desired level of personalization will be reached when Google will be able to answer questions such as ‘What should I do today?’ or ‘What job should I take?’.
And he added: “You can imagine in 10 years, Google will say, ‘Good morning Eric! You’re late already, but, Eric, you’re always late.’ ”
Spam-Symposium 2007 in Wien
25/05/2007 Written by Martin Arnsteiner
He was the nightmare of each Internet-Service-Provider: “Spammer X” earned up to 350.000 Dollar a year with sending spam. From 17 to 22 he worked 14 hours a day as spammer. Now, he visited the “Spam Symposium 2007″ in Wien and talked about his new book “Inside the Spam Cartel” offering an insight-view of Spammers’ world.
We managed in making an interview with him, and during our meeting he told us lots of things, including the reason why he stopped spamming: “I didn’t want to be an asocial element any longer,” he declared.
If you met this young guy, introducing himself as “Spammer X”, on the street or in a coffee-shop, you would never think that he was a member of – what himself describes as– an asocial group. His blond short hair hidden under a cap and his friendly smile definitely are not those of an “asocial person” .
B'nai Brith accuses Canadian website of promoting racial hate
24/05/2007 Written by Alberto Redi (halfmoon)
The Canadian branch of B’nai Brith (in Hebrew: Sons of the Covenant), the oldest continually-operating Jews Service organization in the world, has recently filed a human-rights complaint denouncing a Victoria-based website and all its managing staff of contributing to the promotion of hate “affecting persons identifiable as Jews and/or as citizens of Israel”.
Slovak secret agents revealed
23/05/2007 Written by Boris Mutina (minor)
Another embarrassing incident happened last weekend in Slovakia.
The announced posting of complete telephone book on popular website Zoznam.sk from all phone operators during weekend turned to a serious security incident. One of the phone-numbers-databases provided by T-Mobile contained also numbers that should have been classified (on customer’s wish), and among them there were also more than 700 mobile phone numbers of Slovak secret service SIS.
Slovak newspaper SME informed about this incident during the weekend on his web edition.
Customers, who found their classified numbers published, immediately called the operator but, in spite of this, such numbers had been accessible for more than 24 hours. Considering the reactions of SIS officials, it was clear they were surprised and astonished. Sure. How could they be less than surprised?
Not only Classified mobile phone numbers were revealed, but also secret service agents’ number were disclosed – this could be a real disaster.
Law doesn’t speak computers’ language
17/05/2007 Written by Alberto Redi (halfmoon)
In Der Prozess –The trial– , a masterpiece by Franz Kafka, an esteemed businessman is processed and condemned without understanding his own imputations. Similar distressing, unfair situations happen every day all around the world but sometimes it also happens the exact contrary: a judge who doesn’t understand the crime committed by the defendants he is about to judge.
According to Reuters news agency, a British judge admitted on Wednesday that he couldn’t cope with terms like “website” or “forum” in a trial of three men accused of inciting terrorism via the Internet.
Judge Peter Openshaw, 59, couldn’t understand in depth the declarations of a witness who was describing the activities carried out in a forum used by alleged Islamist radicals.